by Melanie Ray
“No, leave me alone. I do not talk to you, Wye.” Tar crossed her arms and looked away.
Wye rolled his eyes, Tar still wasn't right for play. X was watching TV, his sister M-Win was still out from an episode that morning, and there was nothing to do. He grabbed a chair and watched the men play chess. Take the pawn. Move up and take his pawn. He concentrated on the pieces as he heard a voice in his head that wasn’t his own comment on the game.
Is that the best move you got? To take my little pawn, Xiam? You should have looked closer...
Not knowing or caring where it came from, he continued to concentrate on the pawn that needed to be taken. Chasm needed to take Toby’s pawn, it was clear as the freakin’ sun shiny day. Move up and take the pawn. Take the pawn... He heard the mysterious message repeat in his head again.
Is that the best move you got? To take my little pawn, Xiam? You should have looked closer....
“I just took your knight.” Wye’s voice sounded calmer and deeper than usual.
Chasm looked over at Wye with interest and a broad smile. “Yed’s on my side, I called him.”
“N-n-not fair. Y-y-yed-yed’s always on your s-s-side.” His partner Toby complained.
Tara moved over closer to Wye. Her face lit up as if she had been a young teen going on a date for the first time. Her eyes sparkled, and her sour mood seemed to have lifted its veil. “Yed, honey, is that you?”
Yed glanced over and saw Ms. Stevenson. She was about his height and was a pleasant, although delusional, elderly stocky human whom he’d grown a soft spot for. He nodded at her politely and watched as the chessboard changed positions toward him. He rubbed his chin and studied the positions.
“Yeducavich?” Tara moved her chair closer to Yed. “Hi there, Yed.” She giggled and touched his shoulder playfully. “How are you today, dear?”
Yed nodded politely at her. “Ms. Stevenson, I’m doing well.” He looked back at the board. “Which move are we on gentlemen?”
“Move 3,” Chasm said. “It’s tight, the rook’s trapped. I need the rook to take out his night.” He rubbed his hands together.
“It’s n-not trapped,” Toby disagreed and pointed to the board. “It’s open.”
Chasm proceeded to cuss out Toby with words Yed couldn’t believe.
“Hey,” Yed stood up and gestured to Ms. Stevenson. “There is a lady present, sir. Apologize. Now.”
Chasm glared at Yed a second before looking at Ms. Stevenson. “Sorry.” His voice was anything but genuine.
“It’s alright, Yed.” Tara stood up next to Yed, her face slightly flushed. “They are just barbarians, nothing like you. Let’s leave the game and have our own discussion, hmm? Tell me more about your planet?”
“Wye!”
“Huh?” Wye turned around and watched M-Win finally come in. He grinned and waved madly at his sister. “Hey look who finally got out.”
“Ugh!” Tara let go of him quickly, he was now nothing but filth to her. “It never lasts.”
“What never lasts?” Wye asked. “Ooh hey, how much does it cost to visit your planet?” He watched her walk away in a huff. “Oh, come on. Seriously, can you recommend a travel agent?”
Chapter 20
XIAMIPOC
“Stop it.” Chasm muttered at M-Win Warno as she continued to drum on the table where the chessboard had resided. “Go find your brothers, go bug someone else. Go cry in a corner again, I don’t care, leave.”
“Don’t wanna. X is watchin' a cooking show and Wye's in with the shrink.” M-Win drooped her eyes in a sarcastic seduction and winked. “Besides, I like hanging out here Chassy baby.” Bop. Bop. Bop-bop-bop-bop-bop-bop...Bop. "You know you want me here."
“Go away,” Chasm yelled again as he dropped his pawn on the board harder than intended. Chassy was a hoot and a holler sometimes. Sure ol' Tara Stevenson had been her brother Wye's favorite target, but to her nothin' made the day complete without messing around with Chasm Sider. It was so easy to get him riled up, and the redness in his face when he yelled? Damn priceless.
“This is boring.” Bop. Bop. M-Win groaned and grabbed a wooden seat next to her. She sat down in her flowery yellow tank top and shorts as she crossed her legs. "Chassy baby, are you done with this game yet?" Bop-bop-bop-bop-bop...Bop.
“Knock it off.” Chasm tried to give her an evil glare, but it didn't phase her. “I don’t want to hear one more thud on this table.”
“It’s not a thud, it’s more like a bop,” M-Win said and flung her sunny orange hair out of the way. She had been a little over three feet high, but it was her hair color that set her above everyone else. You'd think guys would be fallin' all over her. Who cared, they didn't know what they were missing. “Would ya like to see the difference shuga?” She hit the table harder causing some of the pieces to shake and fall off the board onto the ground. "That was a thud." M-Win showed no signs of fear as Chasm yelled at her again. That’s why it was amusing to live in a place with guards. She focused her attention on her nails a second before coming back to her senses and caught the end of Chasm’s speech.
“...So I don’t wanna hear one more bop. So help you, if I do, you’ll know what will happen.” Chasm finished and sat back down. He fixed the pieces as best he could along the board.
"N-not nice," Toby remarked as he bent down to pick up a rook. "M-W-win, you messed up our g-game."
"Well, boo hoo." M-Win picked up a rook that had fallen and looked at it. "What's so great about this dumb game anyway?" She placed the rook onto the table behind the knight.
"It doesn't go there, and you know it." Chasm grunted as he moved the piece back to its original place.
"So-rry," M-Win said as she leaned back in her chair. "After spending all day warring on this board, I thought the rook could get some horseback action."
"Horseback?" Chasm scrunched up his face. "Get out of here, I'm tired of you messing up our game."
"Oh no, your game was messed up way before I came," M-Win disagreed and sat her chair back upright. "Don't blame me if you don't get to go horseback riding."
Chasm stood up. Yeah, he reached a breaking point early today. "Dammit troll, get the hell out of here or so help me-!"
“There a problem Chasm?”
M-Win tried to hide her smile as a guard walked up behind Chasm. Yes, the walls downright sparkled a sunny Yellow as Chassy got scolded by the guard.
“M-Win, you had better knock it off too.” The guard informed her. “You go find your brothers now. Go on.”
M-Win stood up, her fun officially over. “Well guys, I gotta bail.” M-Win stood up. “Had fun, don't forget to invite me for your next game.”
“Get out already smart ass.” Chasm grumbled and moved his pawn. “Leave.”
"THIS IS BORING.” M-Win whined at Wye. "I wish they’d put on something good, like An Affair to Remember."
"No way." Wye rolled his eyes. An Affair to Remember was the only movie she ever remembered. He had chalked it up to being one of the first movies she’d seen before her memory started slipping. He couldn’t say for sure, his own memory only went ten years back. M-Win’s though didn’t go back further than three weeks.
"I wish they’d show HBO,” X said. "There’d be explosions and crashes and everything.” He held his hands out in front and pretended to drive a steering wheel. “Urrrrch! Bang! Kaboom!” He laughed and patted Wye on the back. “Remember when we could watch those? Oh, its been a long time.”
Yeah, no kidding, Wye thought. He sighed, trying to stay awake, as they watched the Discovery channel. Who cared about damn butterflies? It was a ritual to watch TV and converse then go to bed. Bedtime would be only a few minutes away.
“They’re pretty at least. Too bad the scientist won’t shut up.” M-Win crossed her legs. “Gosh, look at that one. Such pretty iridescence on its wings.”
“Yeah. Iridescence.” X closed his eyes, that word sounded so familiar. He whispered it softly. “Iridescent.” He growled dangerously as he looke
d at Wye "What's going on?" Wye and M-Win looked over at him.
"Watching butterflies?" Wye slowly moved to the second seat. He’d seen that look in his brother’s eyes before. He glanced around, making sure plenty of guards were around.
"Butterflies?"
"Yeah. We’re all watching TV?"
"Watching TV? Why would I ever watch a movie with Smilliat?"
Wye and M-Win looked at each other. They knew who was in control. It was rare, but it happened. Xiamipoc. He remembered the past that no one else knew, but all too often was so angry he couldn’t reveal much.
“So...” Wye scratched his cheek softly. He was in trouble either way, so maybe he could dig up something before Xiamipoc went mental. “Anything you want to tell us about our past? Xiamipoc, right?”
Xiamipoc had a devilish look in his eye. "You don't remember who you are? You don't remember being a bar drunk?"
"A bar drunk?" Wye frowned. "I'm not a bar drunk, I’m your brother. You’re loving brother, remember?"
"Brother?” Xiam laughed in a freakish way. “No, you’re not. Far from it, no brother of mine would be a drunk like you." X frowned. "No schooling, no job. Just a perverted drunk, day in and day out. You aren’t fit for anything.”
"What?" Wye couldn't believe his ears. That was a new one. Was Xiamipoc screwing with his head again? "You think I was a drunken bar idiot?"
Xiam gently took M-Win's hand, "Stand over here sis." M-Win did as she was told. Hopefully the guards would interrupt soon. The awkwardness should have pointed out something was wrong. “There you go, right there, Muiny.” Xiam slowly turned around and smiled creepily at Wye...
"I'm gonna kill you!" Xiampoc yelled as he pulled Wye's arm back. The guards quickly pulled Xiamipoc off Wye. "Stay out of this," he yelled as he kicked and screamed trying to get to Wye again.
Wye felt himself being pulled up off the ground. Xiamipoc had thrown one hell of a punch to his side. "Why are you trying to kill me all the time, Xiamipoc?"
"Because of what you did!" Xiamipoc yelled right before he got ‘da needle’. He was going to be visiting the padded room today, that was for sure.
Chapter 21
THE FORGOTTEN
Tiger looked back at his sister, Carress, who had run up to catch him. He stuck his hands in his jean overalls and giggled as he watched her black curly hair bounce. His tail danced with pride, she was getting swifter every day.
"Why can't you be nice and wait up?" Carress said as she wiped her hands off on her overalls. Her soft blue eyes pleaded to give her a break. Even her tail had fallen to the ground in tiredness.
Tiger never took it too easy on his little sister, how would she ever learn? Their world Pagnia was tough, and pussyfooting didn’t do anyone any favors. “Good job, Carressy, but you need to get faster. No one’s protecting you out in the real world away from Grammy. To the top of the hill.”
Carress whined again and ran after him. Tiger laughed and got her to hurry up the hill after him. It didn’t matter if they were protected as kids, one day the real world would find them again. He and his sister couldn’t get cozy and not be able to uproot themselves when the time came. Nothing lasted forever. Tiger and Carress stopped running as they reached the top of the hill and looked down. Their Den was right below. Mostly buried beneath the ground, their home was warm and inviting with candlelight coming from an open door.
“Let’s see what kind of welcome back we get.” The wind blew through Tiger's black hair as he ran down the hill, his sister following behind. He knew he’d be in trouble for leaving in the first place, why not arrive with class? Three, two, one. He ran through the open door and jumped on a rug, sliding in style. “Tada!”
“Tigeravich Smilliat!” An old, bitter voice rang out.
Carress showed up behind him, but Tiger stood there proudly as his Grammy Happy stomped over to him. “Are we late Grammy?” His Grammy had a spark of fire shoot through her eyes. He noticed her silk orange and red tye dye robe -traditionally worn for her Ancient status- had spaghetti sauce stains on it. One of the kids must’ve flung it at her, so she hadn’t been in a good mood in the first place. Uh oh. Punishment might be heavier than I thought. Maybe he should have saved a grand entrance for another day? His Grammy may have been two thousand years old, but that old gal could still get in one foul mood.
"Where did you two run off to again?" His Grammy's voice was firm but steady.
Then again, showing weakness to anyone wasn’t his way. Tiger stuck his tongue out at her. Happy was their only Grammy. She watched over all the kids in the Den, but he and Carress got her brute attitude the most.
"You're supposed to stay in the Den." Grammy Happy's red tail frizzed up like a feline ready to attack. "It is not safe for you to go cavorting around."
"Cavorting. We were not Cavorting." Tiger laughed as he placed his hands back in his pockets. "There was no cavor. No ting of any kind."
"Quit," The old woman shouted as she tried to grab the children. Tiger and Carress ducked her; they were only eighty and quite limber.
"Hey, you two, straighten up or we won't get any candy," another child’s voice rang out.
Tiger looked over at the kid who yelled. "Well, what kind do you want?" He pulled out a cookie from his pants pocket and dusted off some crud. "This one good?"
His Grammy humphed, "you have been away, I knew it. Where'd you get that cookie from? You've been hanging around other Dens, haven't you? You are not supposed to leave this Den!" Grammy grabbed her head, yeah, today was an unlucky day to mess with her. "I don't believe you two. That's it, give me that cookie." She swiped the cookie quickly from Tiger. "No cookies, sweets, or snacks period."
All the kids in the Den started to whine so their bratty parents came over to them.
"Really Grammy Happy." One of the creepy black eyed mothers spoke up. "Punishing all the children because of a couple kids' mistakes."
"Hey." Grammy whipped around on the mom. Ooh, this’ll be good, no one messes with Grammy. "I am an Ancient. I have lived for two thousand and thirteen years. Do not question my authority, child."
"Well," the mother crossed her arms, “my son hasn't done anything wrong all day. He's been an exceptionally obedient boy so it's not right to punish everyone because of a couple of warnos."
Grammy was not pleased with the woman, Tiger could tell. Her wrinkled hands turned into fists as she looked down at him and Carress. "Go play somewhere, children." Tiger and Carress wouldn't disobey her. They found a nearby couch that had a couple springs broken. There wasn’t much in the way of real toys around there, so they hopped onto an old couch and, holding hands, bounced freely with his sister.
Ancient Happy crossed her arms against her sides as she stared down the offender. Half a century ago, the word warno was used in a casual manner, describing her own race. Now, it had been turned into a taboo word. There were only four proper terms used now: Rings, Furries, Sleeks and Pinks. Rings were pure warnos, now only existing as Ancients. Their tails looped colors around their black tails, usually white and another color. Furries had thick furry black tails toward the base, and they grew skinnier toward the tip. Sleeks had smooth feline black tails, while the dreaded Pinks had no fur. Their tails were rough like a rat, and they had black or red iris'. The most vile of them held eyes of a dead soulless pink.
Happy grabbed her nearby splintered staff and held it out to the stupid parents who defied her. At two feet tall, a little extra stretch came in handy. She poked at one of the awful mothers. "I'm not changing my mind. This Den is a team. Whether Pink, Sleek or Furry."
"I disagree." The know-it-all mother frowned. She whipped her smooth black tail through the air defiantly. "Most of this Den is a team, but how can we properly teach our kids when they watch those unruly two all day? Sneaking out, sneaking in, those Furries do nothing but get into trouble. That's not healthy for my boy."
"That's not good for any of them," another mother spoke up from the back somewhere.
The
Ancient was anything but pleased. “So I have more parents who want to challenge my decisions?"
"It's not right to include them," the other mother met the Ancient’s eyes with her own. "They shouldn't count; they don't have a mom and dad to teach them."
Of all the nerve. Ancient Happy looked behind her and saw Tigeravich and Carressella had stopped bouncing on the couch, They were staring at the ground in shame. Oh, no doubt they heard that monstrous comment. She would not argue, Tiger and Carress were her only family left. She pointed out the door. "Find another Den then, all three of you Sleeks!"
"Fine with me, I’m sick of dealing with warnos," The first mother glared at Tiger and Carress before picking up her son. The second and third arguers quickly gathered their kids and left the Den.
"Anybody else want to disagree?" Ancient Happy growled at the twenty parents left, but none of them uttered a word. Ugh, no one understood. Of course, the parents themselves were still young and selfish. She looked back at Tiger and Carress. They were sitting down on the couch, their faces glued to spots on the floor. She went over to them and set her staff back down. It was gratifying to work around children, she didn’t have to stretch her neck to see others her size. "You two, please be happy. Don’t you worry about what those meanies said, your Grammy says you two are just fine. Your parents would have been proud of you."
"Grammy Happy? Can you tell us about them again?" Carress asked sweetly. "How pretty was my momma?"
"She was one of the prettiest in the world." It was a copout answer, but for the children, she wanted them to have only the best impressions of them. "She was full of love and happiness, just like you. Your father, he was so brave. Yeducavich Smilliat had been one of the bravest around."
Carress put her finger to her lip. "Do you think they'd be mad at us?"
"No..." Happy pulled Carress into a warm, sheltered embrace. "No, of course not. You are just kids."